Biotech, Hepatitis C, telaprevir

Vertex Drug Poised for Pivotal Trial Among Patients Who Fail Prior Hepatitis C Treatments

Luke Timmerman 8/19/08

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the developer of telaprevir for hepatitis C, said today it has reached agreement with U.S. and European regulators to begin a pivotal trial for patients who failed to have their disease cured by prior therapies. The Cambridge, MA-based company (NASDAQ: VRTX) said it will enroll 650 patients in the study, called Realize. Vertex is pursuing the study, the first pivotal trial among the difficult-to-treat patient population, after a prior study called Prove 3 showed in June that telaprevir eliminated the virus for 52 percent of patients for at least 12 weeks.